Jason See, senior director of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at GovTech. Photo by Ore Huiying for Microsoft
- Using services such as Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI, GovTech created LaunchPad, a platform where government agencies can explore and harness the potential of AI, browse core prototypes and products, and learn from each other.
- With more than 3,000 monthly active users across government agencies, LaunchPad has already sparked more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for government to harness the power of generative AI.
The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), the technology arm of the Singapore Government, has developed LaunchPad, a whole-of-government AI platform powered by services such as Microsoft Azure OpenAI, to help drive digital transformation and innovation. adoption of AI capabilities within the public sector with the aim of creating technology for the public good.
With the growing popularity of generative AI assistants like ChatGPT, GovTech was looking for ways to expand the use of AI in public service. “We envisioned a platform to bring together the ideas of public officials and help them discover exciting products and prototypes that will help them in their jobs,” said Jason See, senior director of the Data Science and AI Division (DSAID). *.
This ultimately led to the development of LaunchPad. The entire government can now use the platform to discover and experiment with AI technology. To spark ideas, LaunchPad’s gallery showcases various GenAI prototypes while its Hub helps public officials discover core products and programs they can immediately deploy. LaunchPad also offers training resources such as a Prompt Engineering Playbook to encourage widespread adoption.
Since its debut in April 2023, LaunchPad has gained popularity among public officials. The platform currently has over 3,000 monthly active users from multiple government agencies, each contributing their own ideas. It sparked more than 400 ideas and 20 new prototypes, laying the foundation for the Singapore government to harness the power of generative AI.
The Appraiser tool being used to generate personalized student testimonials. Photo by Ore Huiying for Microsoft
Among the key solutions born from LaunchPad is the development of Appraiser, a product that simplifies and accelerates the process of writing testimonials for teachers. The idea was first proposed by a polytechnic professor and after further iterations with users, the prototype was developed into a complete product, which has generated over 40,000 testimonials to date.
“Microsoft is excited to see the impact LaunchPad has had on advancing AI innovation in Singapore’s public sector. Such meaningful collaboration with GovTech is crucial to bringing these AI innovations to the public sector as we enable every person and organization to achieve more. By working together, we can inspire and encourage public officials to adopt AI solutions to improve their productivity, which will help them thrive in the AI era,” said Ms. Lee Hui Li, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Singapore.
Once the solution is ready, GovTech’s next goal is to redouble its efforts to use LaunchPad to help the entire civil service imagine, discover and learn, with plans underway to help agencies use LaunchPad for their own ideas and hackathons.
*Jason See, former Senior Director of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at GovTech, is now CIO at the Department of Education, effective April 1, 2024.
